Trains, buses and cracked pavement

Just back from three days in the Bay Area, and came away with a few thoughts that seem relevant to the transit- and transportation-besotted Naked City readership:

1. I drove U.S. 101 from the airport south to Palo Alto one day, and the next drove from Palo Alto to San Jose.

One observation: Although San Francisco and San Jose have more than 900,000 residents each and the stretch between the two where Palo Alto lies is full of municipalities, I saw far less litter on 101 than you see on Charlotte's highways. Either they pick up the trash more often or people don't litter as heavily. Makes me even more embarrassed at our slovenly roads -- both city- and state-maintained roads.

Another: The pavement itself was in horrible shape -- even worse than ours. I even saw green stuff (weeds? moss? hard to tell at 60 mph) growing in the pavement potholes and crevices.

2. Took Caltrain from Palo Alto into San Francisco one day. This is Amtrak-like service, which runs as often as every 10-15 minutes during rush hour, and every half hour or so other times, between SF and the suburbs south of San Jose. I took it into the city at midmorning and it was almost filled. Coming home at 3 p.m. it was only partly filled. One-way fare between SF and SJ is $8.25.

Sure would be nice if we could have something similar between, say, Charlotte and Raleigh. Or even Raleigh, Greensboro and Winston-Salem. Anything to relieve I-85 and I-40.

3. San Francisco and its metro area offer multiple public transportation options: In addition to Caltrain, there's the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), which is "heavy rail," meaning electrified trains fed through the rail below the train. Muni is San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency, which runs buses, light rail, historic streetcars, electric trolley coaches and the famous cable cars. And that's just in San Francisco.

Other suburban areas have their own transit systems: e.g. SamTrans, the San Mateo County Transit District which provides bus service and the VTA, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which has bus and light rail service. And Palo Alto offers free shuttle service around the town.

Near as I can tell, the region needs them all -- and more. I took Caltrain, then two buses to get to an art museum, then took a taxi back to the Caltrain station. Trying to make a train (that I missed by 5 minutes) the cabbie went on one of the freeways. It was bumper to bumper. At 2:30 p.m.

What does this mean for Charlotte?

First, we have to be patient. BART began as an idea among civic and government leaders after WWII. Voters approved a BART plan in 1962. Construction started in 1964. It carried its first passengers in 1972.

Second, you can't have effective transportation in a large metro area without multiple choices.
Unless this region's economy tanks, we're going to get a whole lot bigger in coming decades. Starting to build a rapid transit system now will be monumentally cheaper than waiting until we're already choked and built out, because land will be even more expensive then. Adopting a "roads only" approach because the region hasn't hit urban densities as high as older, larger areas is about as smart as waiting until your kid is a sophomore in high school to start saving for college.